Friday, April 29, 2011

Gotta Hurry

I spoke with the county office yesterday, and they said that our permit was set to expire this month. I gave her my sob story, that I had been in the hospital and worked had slowed to a crawl since January. I asked if we could have just the plumbing inspected. It's ready. And the HVAC is almost done, but we are behind finishing the electrical. She said don't worry, she will bump up the expiration date in the books and just get it all ready for rough in. I told her I wouldn't be able to afford a new permit. She said don't worry, about it. So hopefully that will buy us enough time to get done.
I know everyone expected us to be done by now. But that is how life goes. Life is trying and expensive. You have to roll with the punches, as they say.
So now we have to get to this punch list. My husband threw his back out and has been down for the count for most of April. He's feeling a little better, although it still hurts him and it is a nagging pain. We are hoping that he can go to a doctor or chiropractor soon, but it is just a matter of convincing him to go. For now, it's back to work, again.

I have been working on a few things. I have a few tricks up my sleeve as they say.

We bought baby chicks last weekend, they should be a week old today. 6 pullets, of different breeds. I only know that 2 are supposed to be "golden comet" and the other four are "chickens"...I am not sure what they will be later. Our intention was to keep them here in Springfield, because they just changed the ordinance last year, to allow them in the city. They would have to be kept in a chicken tractor, and never allowed out. we haven't built them a building yet, and I think that is my job. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative, and we had monsoon like storms until just yesterday.

I spent some time last week trying to mow by the old farm house. It looked really good, but after the storms, it has all grown up really fast! I found a morel mushroom under the lilac bush, a big one! And that got me excited! And yesterday, I nearly got a bullfrog with my mower. But luckily, the blades missed her, and I carried her up to the pond. Last night, we had a garter snake in the living room, a pretty good sized one. It had a spot that looked a bit skinned, and I set it free...I am guessing it was supposed to be a gift from one of our cats...most likely Mr.Meowers.

I am wanting to put in a garden at the little farm house. We made a mess with the bobcat last year, cleaning up stumps and debris. the land is rutted up and hard to mow. We will be looking to rent bobcat again soon, and I will scrape off the sod to compost, and put in corn, potatoes and beans for summer. The soil down there is old, which means it is full of nutrient. There are lots of maples and walnuts down there. and there is a long row of daffodils by the clothes line. I plan to put the garden in there, right along side them. It should benefit all of us, and will make for good cook outs and bonfire parties by the barn. :) Hopefully someday, there will be harvest parties!

My Springfield potager is coming along, slowly. I have harvested asparagus, which I blanch and freeze if I can't eat it right away. You can hold it over for a while in a glass of water in the fridge, if need be. I also have chives and garlic we put in last year. I am not sure how many cloves I put in, but 4 remain, and that is a start! The chives, I cut with scissors, and dry in the dehydrator. It makes the whole house smell like onions! But it gives me a good supply for baked potatoes, salads, and whatever else I can find to use them in. Other crops, that we direct seeded, are sprouting: spinach, carrots, peas. I put in seeds of onion and leeks, but I don't think they will fruit out, so I will replant something else there. My intention is to grow a lot of salad greens, carrots and beans this year. And corn and potatoes. I have eggplants and tomatoes as well, and a few pots of herbs.

At the big house, I would like to start a little bit of naturalizing landscaping. Some natives like purple coneflower, I have already thrown out there. But I was thinking of a combination of things. Some natives along the borders of the fence rows, and some old fashioned favorites landscaping the house. I have so many plants here that I am proud of. Now I plan to dig them out and transfer them to Rogersville. I hate doing that, but I have just recently started to invest so much effort into them, that it would be a shame to not be able to enjoy them. In a rental, you never know what your tenants will decide to dig out and replace, so I only plan to leave things like vinca vines, and a few other ground covers. I will take the specimen plants with me, and make up the new landscape. That should help with our appraisal as well.

That's it for now. These are our accomplishments and plans for the time being. This weekend they are calling for more rain, so we will probably work indoors on electrical, which is really needed.

I will try to post more, now that my computer is up and running again! :)